| Preston Town Hall | |
| Coordinates: | 53.7599°N -2.6988°W |
| Map Dot Label: | Preston Town Hall |
| Location: | Lancaster Road, Preston, Lancashire |
| Built: | 1934 |
| Architect: | Sir Arnold Thornely |
| Designation1: | Grade II Listed Building |
| Designation1 Offname: | Town Hall, Lancaster Road |
| Designation1 Date: | 20 December 1991 |
| Designation1 Number: | 1207297 |
Preston Town Hall is a municipal building in Lancaster Road in Preston, Lancashire, England. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Preston City Council, is a Grade II listed building.
The first town hall was a medieval structure built on the south side of the Market Square which collapsed in June 1780.[1] [2] It was replaced by a second town hall which was a brick building built on the same site in 1782 and augmented by a cupola in 1814.[1]
After significant industrial growth in the first half of the 19th century, particularly in relation to the cotton industry, civic leaders decided to procure a third town hall on the same site.[3] The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the mayor, Robert Townley Parker, on 2 September 1862.[4] It was designed by George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic style, built by Cooper and Tullis of Preston at a cost of £69,412 and was officially opened by the Duke of Cambridge on 3 October 1867.[3] [5] [6] The design involved arcading on the ground floor and tracery windows on the first floor and it featured a tower at the south west corner which was high.[3] [7] The tower housed a Cambridge-chiming clock by William Potts & Son,[8] with bells by Taylor of Loughborough;[9] at the time it was one of the largest gravity-escapement clocks to have been made in England.
As part of a two-day visit to Lancashire, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attended a lunch hosted by the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire, Lord Derby, at County Hall before meeting civic leaders at the town hall in March 1945 during the Second World War.[10]
The town hall burnt down on 15 March 1947 and was subsequently demolished and a modern building known as Crystal House was built on the site in 1962.[11]
As the responsibilities of the borough council increased, council leaders decided to procure a municipal office building to provide extra office space for council officers and their departments: the site selected was open ground in Lancaster Road between the police station to the north and the Sessions House to the south.[12] The municipal office building, which was designed by Sir Arnold Thornely in the Neoclassical style was completed in 1934. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with eleven bays facing onto the Lancaster Road with the last three bays at each end slightly projected forward; the central section of five bays, which rose higher than the end sections, featured a doorway with an architrave and a pediment decorated with acroteria; in each of the sections the centre window on the first floor was equipped with a balcony.
After demolition of the previous town hall, a council chamber was created in the municipal office building which was renamed the Preston Town Hall in 1971.[1] The new town hall continued to be the local seat of government after the enlarged Preston District Council was formed in 1974[13] and remained its home after the local authority secured city status as Preston City Council in 2002.[14]